FCA: The Relentless Devotional For Competitorsናሙና

The Battle Ground

David Lyons

READY:

“When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who is attacking you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and be delivered from your enemies.” Numbers 10:9

SET:

I am a competitive bodybuilder with multiple sclerosis. For the past 4 years that has been my moniker. It’s hard to see myself that way, as someone with this disease. MS does not define me, it motivates me. I view it as something that is there, outside of me, which is trying to defeat me. It is my enemy, my Goliath.

As days go by with my left leg barely lifting off the ground as I walk, pain encumbering my body and standing without falling becoming a test of concentration, I understand the path the Lord and I are walking together. It’s a battle I face every day, but just like competing, it’s the fight that makes me a winner.

Honestly, it doesn’t excite me to stand onstage in those tiny posing trunks, tanned and oiled up, flexing in front of a thousand spectators. The excitement is in the weights I lift and the gains I make at the gym. Christ’s strength becomes my strength when I workout. With each rep and set, as my hands lose their feeling due to MS and the weights are almost impossible to hold…I pray. And those prayers empower me to battle the weights and win. This is my battle ground, and just like in times of war, I never walk into a workout without the full armor of God or the power of Christ.

GO:

1. Do you put your strength in Christ during challenges?
2. What is your battle ground in life, and are you winning that battle with prayer?
3. In times of difficulties, do you take God’s path or the easy road?

WORKOUT:

Ephesians 6:13-17
2 Corinthians 12:9
1 Corinthians 1:25

OVERTIME:

Lord, help me to lean on Your strength, not my own, when I am battling tough times, amen.